Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Disciples Today

Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II

Introduction

A word about the books of Samuel. After the confused times of the settlement in Palestine comes a more stable era with the kings. This period is important because the very vague “salvation” described earlier, – a land of their own for the Hebrews, their growth as a people – turns now into messianism on the basis of the kingship of David: an ideal king will come in whom the promises will be fulfilled. Jesus, descendant of David, will found the eternal kingdom promised to David. In today’s reading, Samuel appears as the prophet who reluctantly prepares the foundation of a Hebrew kingdom. Only a king can unify and defend the people.

In the Gospel, Jesus begins to preach the coming of the kingdom of God among people. He calls for penance and conversion and chooses his first disciples. These same words are addressed to us today: “Repent, be converted, be fishers of people for the kingdom.”

Opening Prayer

Lord, our God,
you invite us, disciples of your Son today,
to be wholly converted to the Gospel
and to help extend your kingdom.
Give us hearts open to the Good News
and the generosity to share it
with people of our day.
We ask you this through Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

First Reading

1 Samuel 1:1-8

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, Elkanah by name,
a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim.
He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu,
son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah;
Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
This man regularly went on pilgrimage from his city
to worship the LORD of hosts and to sacrifice to him at Shiloh,
where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were ministering as priests of the LORD.
When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice,
he used to give a portion each to his wife Peninnah
and to all her sons and daughters,
but a double portion to Hannah because he loved her,
though the LORD had made her barren.
Her rival, to upset her, turned it into a constant reproach to her
that the LORD had left her barren.
This went on year after year;
each time they made their pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the LORD,
Peninnah would approach her,
and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.
Her husband Elkanah used to ask her:
“Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you refuse to eat?
Why do you grieve?
Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 116:12-13, 14-17, 18-19

R.       (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R.       Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R.       To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R.       Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R.       To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R.       Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R.       To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R.       Alleluia.

Alleluia Verse

Mark 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mark 1:14-20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

Prayers of the Faithful

– For the Church dear to us, that the Lord may help it to keep renewing itself, so that it may stay on the road of the Gospel and that people can live the Gospel as good news, we pray:

– For those who leave their nets to follow Jesus, the Lord, that they may live the Gospel so as to make it visible and tangible, we pray:

– For all of us in our communities, that the Lord may help us to take the Gospel seriously and to live it in close union with the Lord, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, our God,
in these gifts of bread and wine,
we place our goodwill
to follow your Son
wherever he calls us.
Let our encounter here
with your Son and with each other
mark a new beginning for us
of unity and loyal love,
that the seed of your kingdom
may grow among us
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord, our God,
we know what you can do
with weak, fallible people.
In the strength of your Son,
help us to do what surpasses our forces:
to be your people
and to be to the world
the sign that you love everyone
and that friendship and justice
are no empty words for you and for us.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

The time is now. Repent and believe the good news. Come and follow me. Be my disciples. Jesus spoke these words long ago. He addresses them here and now to us. May you heed these words, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTIONS

Follow Him; Not an Idea

The opening message of Jesus’ ministry has two announcements and two calls to action: two announcements that the Time and the Kingdom are here; two calls for change and belief. At this point, he does not explain what is meant by the Time or the Kingdom, or how to change. The world will know, gradually, as this Time and the Kingdom unfold in his very being. What we need to do is to follow him, live with him. This is the call given to Simon and Andrew: “Follow me”. The same call is given to James and John. To you and me. As Pope Benedict observed, being Christian is an encounter not with an ethical choice or lofty idea, but with an event, a person (cf. Deus Caritas Est, # 1). You follow him, trusting that in the course of the following, everything will unfold at the right time.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022; written by Fr. Paulson Velyannoor, CMF

Fishers of people

Mark 1:14-20

Today, the Church is inviting us to participate in the mission of sharing the Good News of Jesus. A fitting message for today's theme, the Liturgy of the Word, teaches: "The time has come, the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel". There is a sense of urgency in all three readings in today's Liturgy. "Only forty more days…" shouted Jonah in the 1st reading. "Our time is growing short," wrote Paul in the 2nd reading, and in the Gospel, we listen to the call of Jesus: "The time has come!"

Following this message of urgency, the first recruits of Jesus immediately followed him. They were all ordinary people, like you and me. In his call, the Lord says, “Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men.” What does it mean to be a fisherman of people? The seawater is a suitable environment for fish, but not for humans.

According to Semitic culture, the sea was the seat of evil forces, the seat of demons. Jesus compares the world with all its sinfulness, wars, violence and destruction to the sea, the seat of demons. In order to save the lives of God's people, it is imperative that they are immediately rescued from these hostile conditions of sin and death. There is no time to waste. Those who love their brothers must pull them out of these waters.

The disciples left their nets and followed Jesus. It is our laziness, comforts, habits, traditions, jealousy, envy, and attachment to wealth that we must leave behind as nets that prevent us from following Jesus immediately.

He invites us to change our lives, to be transformed. It is no longer appropriate to make excuses, as the Word of God Sunday reminds us. Jesus passes by and He calls us by name to follow him, to be his disciples, and to participate in his saving mission. Nothing should stop us from responding to the call of Jesus, NOW!